> On Monday 13 January 2003 11:22 am, Richard B. Johnson wrote:> [snip]> >> > The early Ygddrasil distributions, of which I posted the 'grep'> > several days ago, show that most of the files are BSD based.> >> > I attach it here for your pleasure.> > Ummm you did a "strings *" twice in the /usr/bin directory....>

Anyway, the point was that GNU made tools in those days. Thesetools were useful in porting existing programs (like the BSD programs)to new environments, including the, then new Linux. Linus was stillin Helsinki at the time.

GNU continued to develop new programs and improve their 'C' compiler.GNU also started a development program called "HURD". This wassupposed to be the great operating system of the future, completelyfree and open. This OS used "Mach 4", not Linux, as its kernel.This was based upon the BSD "Lite" kernel. In fact a lot of thingsthat GNU has done is based upon BSD student's original work.

I'm certain that a lot of work was done porting the typical Unixprograms to HURD. Eventually, HURD had everything that Linux andBSD already had, except for the reputation. Few persons even knewof the operating system. In the meantime, Linux was recognized byFortune 500 companies like IBM. Eventually, Linux got a lot ofhelp from those companies as well. IBM pays some employees towork on Linux. The same for some other important companies.

Since HURD didn't get much press, it was certainly unfair. However,this doesn't give GNU, RMS, or the HURD developers any right toclaim that Linux is "GNU/Linux". It should give them the incentiveto get some decent press for their own hard work such as HURD.They should be attempting to get distributors to market theirproducts instead of attempting to rewrite history and claimcredit for somebody else's work.

Cheers,Dick JohnsonPenguin : Linux version 2.4.18 on an i686 machine (797.90 BogoMips).Why is the government concerned about the lunatic fringe? Think about it.